Sherwood defends decision to remain in stand

Tim Sherwood defended his decision to stay in the main stand at Anfield as he watched Liverpool thump Tottenham 4-0 on Sunday.

The head coach has taken to viewing games from a higher vantage point recently, although he has usually taken up a place on the touchline later in matches.

On Sunday, however, Sherwood sat in the stand for the duration of Tottenham's miserable Premier League defeat, as defensive errors once again cost the team dear.

Younes Kaboul's own goal was followed up by a mistake from Michael Dawson, the centre-half misplacing a pass which allowed Luis Suarez to race clear and score.

Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson added further goals in the second half as Spurs' European ambitions were dealt a blow, but Sherwood defended himself when asked about visiting fans' calls to see him down on the touchline.

"They're entitled to have an opinion," he said. "But I've sat up there for the last few games and I get a better view of the game.

"It's a learning curve for me because when the team are not doing too well they want to see you.

"They know me well enough to know I'm not shirking and it's my responsibility. I'm in it with the team and it's my responsibility as well as the guys on the pitch.

"At 2-0 and 3-0 I think I'm going to learn more about my players by sitting up there and getting a good look at it rather than getting involved and maybe getting myself in trouble on the touchline.

"We see enough of me ranting and raving and maybe it's time for me to start assessing, and looking at what we need to do for the future because our performances against teams in the top four have not been good enough, so I've learnt a lot up there today."

Sherwood was disappointed with the manner of Liverpool's first two goals and felt Tottenham's errors could not be helped from a coach's point of view.

"All the plans you've done in the week go out of the window with the first two goals," he said. "You can't legislate for that; you can't coach that.

"No-one wants to make individual mistakes and I will never criticise anyone for doing that because they're honest players and they want to do well but it's very, very difficult when you go 2-0 down against a good side like Liverpool.

"Every mistake we made got punished severely and that's credit to them and the ability they have in forward areas."